Friday, January 1, 2010

We typically spend our New Year's Eve quietly at home, watching a movie or visiting with family, and blowing on conch shells or noisy tubes at the turning of the year. This year we decided to try something different and joined a group at a New Year's Eve dance. The Quick Step Social Dance Club consists of a group of home school kids who have an interest in ballroom dance, and who share their talents with others. What a terrific time we had!

Our evening started with a one-hour dance lesson taught by Kirby Gowen and his lovely assistant and sister, Zoe Gowen. In a large circle around the gym, we learned the basic waltz, two-step, swing, cha cha cha, and polka steps with a few spins and twirls to boot. For many this was but a review while for the rest of us this was either new (Joshua and Shannon) or return to long-lost memories from high school or college (David and Liz). Kirby was an amazing dance teacher.

Each time we learned a new dance step, the girls would rotate to the next male partner in the circle.

Once the lesson was completed, the dance floor was opened up, and everyone got to practice what we had just learned.

John chose to spend the majority of his evening reading...

...and bending over backwards, it would seem, to stay away from the dance floor.

As 2010 approached, the bottles of Martinelli's Apple Cider were opened, glasses filled, and the countdown started.

Welcome 2010!

Here's a short video we made of the evening. Be sure to pause the Playlist at the very bottom of this page before starting the video.